AAP to move Supreme Court against Delhi Police's 'one-sided' action

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Thursday said it plans to move the Supreme Court against Delhi Police over what it says was "one-sided action" against its workers and leaders during and after the clashes that broke out on Wednesday outside the Bharatiya Janata Party's national headquarters. The party also plans to lodge a formal complaint against the saffron party in connection with the stone-pelting and violence at the BJP headquarters in New Delhi's Ashok Road on Wednesday evening.

"We are planning to move the Supreme Court against Delhi Police," Ashutosh told HT.
Calling as completely one-sided the police action, he said, "BJP workers started the stone pelting. (BJP spokesperson) Nalin Kohli came out wielding a lathi. He is roaming free. There is no action against anyone from BJP?" he said.
AAP leader Prashant Bhushan, said: "We will register a formal complaint with the police today. We had also drawn attention of police last night when several of our people were detained at the police station. All through the incident police remained a mute spectator. This just shows Congress and the BJP have joined hands to stop AAP."
Clashes broke out on Wednesday between workers of the AAP and the BJP in half-a-dozen towns across the country hours after AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal was briefly detained by police in a north Gujarat town. The former Delhi chief minister was released after 30 minutes.
Kejriwal began a four-day tour of Gujarat to check chief minister and BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi's claims that the state was a model of development.
He was detained for alleged violation of the model code of conduct by travelling in a long motorcade. In Gujarat's Kutch, former Delhi chief minister Kejriwal's car was attacked by a few unidentified people. The windscreen of his four-wheeler was damaged in the incident.
Protests by AAP workers outside the Delhi BJP office against Kejriwal's detention in Gujarat snowballed into a clash when BJP activists allegedly threw stones at them and the protestors retaliated. While both sides hurled chairs and sticks at each other, police intervened, using water cannons to disperse the crowd.
Angry AAP workers vandalised the BJP hoardings in the area. AAP leaders Ilmi, Ashutosh and Rajmohan Gandhi were present at the protest site. Ilmi told media persons it was a peaceful protest by them but the BJP workers indulged in violence. Delhi Police arrested over a dozen of AAP workers and registered a case of rioting and destruction of public property against AAP leaders Ashutosh, Shazia Ilmi and Prof Anand Kumar. Scores of AAP workers and top leaders were later detained at the Parliament Street police station.
Armed with brooms, AAP workers also clashed with lathi-wielding activists of BJP in Uttar Pradesh's Lucknow. AAP activists allegedly attacked the BJP office with bricks, drawing retaliation as the saffron party workers, carrying canes, took to the streets. Several people were mercilessly beaten up by canes after being knocked down on the road as rival groups chased each other away. Reports of similar clashes also came in from other UP towns such as Jhansi, Kanpur and Allahabad.
Kejriwal had on Wednesday accused the BJP of instigating violence in front of its headquarters in Delhi even as he apologised for some AAP activists "retaliating" while protesting his detention. He claimed that AAP workers were first attacked by BJP supporters. Some of the agitated AAP workers had responded by pelting "two or three stones". 
"I am sorry for the mistakes committed by the AAP workers. They should not have resorted to violence on my detention," he said. He also blamed BJP workers for attacking his entourage while travelling in Kutch. As reported by HT, the chief electoral officer of Delhi has already sought a report from the police commissioner about the incident.

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